Statement on Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal has always maintained his innocence in the
1981 fatal shooting of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. His
prosecution was politically-motivated because of his Black Panther Party
membership, his support of the MOVE organization and as a radical
journalist. His 1982 trial and subsequent 1995 PCRA appeals were
racially biased: the prosecution excluded African Americans from the
jury; and PCRA trial Judge Albert Sabo, the same judge in Abu-Jamal’s
initial trial, declared, “I’m gonna help them fry the
n—-r.” Abu-Jamal’s frame-up stands out as the city’s most notorious
wrongful conviction.

On Dec. 27, Mumia Abu-Jamal won a significant case before Judge Leon Tucker in a decision granting him new rights of appeal.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner: The
Philadelphia Chapter of the IWW calls on you to do the right
thing. Do not stand in the way of justice. Do not appeal Judge
Tucker’s decision.

Cease defending former Philadelphia DA and later PA Supreme
Court Judge Ron Castille’s now-discredited claim of
impartiality. Justice must extend to controversial cases your
predecessors held untouchable. Allow Abu-Jamal to go forward with
re-arguing his appeals, which Judge Tucker states “would best serve the
appearance of justice.